Southern Caribbean Cruising — Arriving Cartagena, Columbia

Cartagena, Columbia has a rather unique cruise terminal. Exiting the ship you enter Port Oasis, which in addition to the usual tourist shopping, also has an extensive zoo area called Park Cartagena. The emphasis was on local birds. For instance, peacocks roamed freely everywhere:

A wide array of brightly colored parrots perched alongside the walkways:

This big guy seemed to really enjoy his closeup:

Exiting Port Oasis and Park Cartagena, Ursula was in the shopping mood for a cheap tour. The tour operators there were on the expensive side, so we passed farther along. Lo and behold, the price dropped considerably. We were soon on a large, comfortable bus with many fellow passengers on a three-hour tour (no Gilligan’s Island jokes, please) at a fraction of the previously quoted prices. Our first stop was the gargantuan Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas:

As you can see from the panoramic above, the grounds are well kept and routinely watered. Palm trees and flowered bushes help frame the setting:

In front of the castle is a monument to Blas de Lezo. This poor chap earned quite the reputation, and in so doing he lost his left eye, leg, and hand, and the use of his right arm. All this is depicted in the statue honoring him:

Plaques adorn the base of the statue:

Later in the tour we would visit yet another fortification, complete with canon. This is the Baluarte (Bastion) de Santo Domingo, which overlooks the approach to the city from the Caribbean.

This next photo may look like a tree trunk, but it’s actually an old canon protruding from the ground:

Additional views of the bastion:

And right next to the bastion is this:

But it’s time to move on, and I see this in the distance:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)